Thanks for answering my last post, nvxplorer. I was reading between the lines, as I am familiar with Authoritarian Personality Theory, and I wanted to know where you were coming from, or what you may have been trying to get at.
Anyway, my way of approaching this theory (and others) is from the perspective of human development, social work, and intercultural studies which have been the focus of my graduate work-- so far anyway.
So, here it is-- One of the most influential but controversial postwar studies was The Authoritarian Personality published in 1950, and written by Theodor Adorno, Else Frenkel-Brunswick, Daniel Levinson, and R. Nevitt. What I find interesting is that they honestly tried to understand behavior and society by mixing Marxism with psychoanalytic theory. The Authoritarian Personality was part of a series called Studies in Prejudice, sponsored by the American Jewish Committee as part of an effort to produce research on religious and racial prejudice, especially, but not exclusively, anti-Semitism. So, its virtually impossible to completely strip this theory from its political roots.
The term "authoritarian personality" represents a syndrome of conservative attitudes, religious, national, and attitudinal intolerance, rigid emotional and cognitive functioning and personality traits which are thought to stem from deep personal conflicts and are reflected in compulsiveness, inordinate recourse to defense mechanisms, and distorted satisfaction of repressed drives.
The theory claims that individuals who tend to be influenced by Fascist propaganda often developed early childhood hatred for authoritarian figures (their mean old parents), which could not be repressed under any circumstances. According to the theorists, the reaction to the forbidden hatred is a tendency to admire and conform to power and authority. The aggression originally experienced towards the parents is displaced onto weaker figures; ethnic minorities, or groups who deviate from social norms, are prime examples.
After finding correlations between anti-Semitism and prejudices against other minorities, they made the claim that the most important trait is a tendency to glorify power, to admire authoritative figures and submit to their demands, on the one hand, and a contempt for weakness, sentimentalism or compassion, on the other. Such attitudes were defined as an "authoritarian approach." The main, but not the only, instrument for assessing the underlying authoritarian personality is the so-called F-Scale (F for fascist). This scale consists of the following categories:
Conventionalism -- the tendency to accept and obey social conventions and the rules of authority figures; adherence to the traditional and accepted
Authoritarian Submission -- submission to authorities and authority figures
Authoritarian Aggression -- an aggressive attitude towards individuals or groups disliked by authorities; particularly those who threaten traditional values
Anti-Intraception -- rejection of the subjective, imaginative and aesthetic
Substitution and Stereotypy -- superstition, cliché, categorization and fatalistic determinism
Power and Toughness -- identification with those in power, excessive emphasis on socially advocated ego qualities
Destructiveness and Cynicism -- general hostility, putting others down
Projectivity -- the tendency to believe in the existence of evil in the world and to project unconscious emotional impulses outward
Sex -- exaggerated concerns with respect to sexual activity
These are, of course, categories that transcend political leanings or even the theorys perceived bias. Nevertheless, I prefer Alfred Adlers perspective. He said that the "will to power over others" is a central neurotic trait, usually emerging as aggressive over-compensation for feelings of inferiority. The authoritarian needs to maintain control and needs to validate superiority. This sounds a lot like Narcissism, but unlike malignant narcissism, authoritarianism is rooted in a mind set occupied by enemies (real or imagined) rather than admirers who can keep up the narcissistic supply. One thing they do have in common is an attitude devoid of a sense of equality or empathy, and I think that is significant. Such a personality is described well by Dr. Nina Brown in her books dealing with the pathologically self-absorbed. Its worth mentioning since the authoritarian she writes about is preoccupied with his or her own emotions, interests, or situations so that Dr. Brown believes such people deserve their own classification in the diagnostic manual (DSM-IV).
Theres my take-- The Readers Digest condensed version, too. Imagine-- this is me being brief. Like they used to say, nisht geferlech.
